2007.02.26: February 26, 2007: Headlines: COS - Dominican Republic: Business Gazette: Kirby Jones had been living in the slums of the Dominican Republic’s capital city, Santo Domingo when a rebel faction staged a coup against the Dominican Republic’s sitting government

Kirby Jones had been living in the slums of the Dominican Republic’s capital city, Santo Domingo when a rebel faction staged a coup against the Dominican Republic’s sitting government

For Jones, the decision to join Peace Corps was brought on by Kennedy’s ‘‘call to service,” the idea that young Americans could forge a new path in Cold War-era foreign relations. Jones also liked the idea of traveling to an exotic, faraway place. He wanted to do some good. Being eligible for the draft didn’t hurt either. ‘‘It was either the Peace Corps or join the Army,” he said. Jones chose against the military, opting instead to join a government-run organization that promoted peace. As it happened, he found himself in the middle of a war zone anyway. Less than six months before his scheduled homecoming to the United States in 1965, a rebel faction staged a coup against the Dominican Republic’s sitting government. ‘‘You walked outside, and airplanes were in the sky dive-bombing, and people were running around in the streets with guns,” he said. ‘‘Friends of mine got killed, and their bodies were in the street.” As American forces arrived to quash the fighting, Jones said it was not his home country’s military that protected him in the end. It was the armed rebels — his neighbors and friends, men with whom he played baseball.

Volunteers from Montgomery County ask what they can do for their country

by Audrey Dutton | Staff Writer

As one of the Peace Corps’ earliest volunteers in 1963, Bethesda resident Kirby Jones worked on urban development in the northern slums of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s largest city. He helped the residents build a school within their own community, that remains in operation today. Jones has returned to his former Santo Domingo neighborhood more than a dozen times since his Peace Corps service.

Jones was sent to urban Santo Domingo in 1963, as part of President John F. Kennedy’s then-new project called the Peace Corps. Jones was 22, fresh from college’s safe cocoon, and idealistic — or, as he would say later, ‘‘wearing my T-shirt and blue jeans to save the world.” At the time, a revolution was simmering right under his nose.

Jones, now a 64-year-old U.S.-Cuba trade consultant living in Bethesda, was among masses of early Peace Corps volunteers who settled in Montgomery County after returning to the United States. Along with their Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia counterparts, they make up the largest cluster of former Corps volunteers in the United States. Their numbers grow each year; in 2006, Maryland sent 226 volunteers to third- and second-world countries, for a total of about 5,000 since the 1960s.

Current and former Peace Corps volunteers will celebrate the program’s 46-year anniversary during events this week — including an American University panel discussion Thursday night — as part of Peace Corps Week.

For Jones, the decision to join Peace Corps was brought on by Kennedy’s ‘‘call to service,” the idea that young Americans could forge a new path in Cold War-era foreign relations. Jones also liked the idea of traveling to an exotic, faraway place. He wanted to do some good. Being eligible for the draft didn’t hurt either.

‘‘It was either the Peace Corps or join the Army,” he said.

[Excerpt]

Jones chose against the military, opting instead to join a government-run organization that promoted peace.

As it happened, he found himself in the middle of a war zone anyway. Less than six months before his scheduled homecoming to the United States in 1965, a rebel faction staged a coup against the Dominican Republic’s sitting government.

‘‘You walked outside, and airplanes were in the sky dive-bombing, and people were running around in the streets with guns,” he said. ‘‘Friends of mine got killed, and their bodies were in the street.”

As American forces arrived to quash the fighting, Jones said it was not his home country’s military that protected him in the end. It was the armed rebels — his neighbors and friends, men with whom he played baseball.

‘‘In fact, shortly thereafter, the leader of the faction announced on the radio that the only Americans — and the only foreigners — allowed in some parts of the city were Peace Corps volunteers,” Jones said. ‘‘It proved the Peace Corps worked; we were viewed as part of the community.”

[Excerpt]

Jones said the basic Peace Corps experience of parachuting into a country with ‘‘no parents, nobody looking over your shoulder” still forces young Americans to grow up quickly, though he said Peace Corps jobs require more specific skills now, like agriculture or small business training.

Jones left Santo Domingo in August of 1965. In the years since, he settled in Bethesda, and his life continued on the path set by the Peace Corps. Now he runs a trade consultancy firm that draws on his decades-old relationship with Fidel Castro. He credits the Peace Corps with changing his worldview and redirecting his life.

‘‘Often, I’ll turn on the faucet in the kitchen and remind myself, ‘Isn’t it great to be able to turn on a faucet?’” he said.

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace CorpsSenator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honorOne year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical ClearanceThe purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" againThe LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100%Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace CorpsPCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

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Story Source: Business Gazette

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